For My Sunday Song #95, this power ballad comes to us from Poison. The song is “Something To Believe In” and is off their 1990 album ‘Flesh & Blood’. The song went to #4 on the Billboard Hot 100 and is great example of how moving and poignant a song can be.
The song is about two people in Bret Michael’s life. The first is his personal friend and bodyguard, James Kimo Maano or Kimo. Kimo got hooked up in the rock & roll lifestyle and with his abuse of drugs and alcohol, his life tragically ended early. When Bret found out, he was inspired to write this song as a tribute to his friend. When you watch the video of this song, you see an emotional Bret Michaels reacting to pictures that showed up on the TV of his friend. The Director of the video didn’t tell him the pictures were being used and it took Bret by surprise. It was a cruel trick, but it captured a real moment.
The other person is Bret’s cousin Bob who had been wounded in Vietnam and the song talks about his struggles mentally with what happened as well as the loss of so many of his cousin’s friends in the way. It paints a stark reality of the damage war can have on a person.
The whole song discusses reasons for Bret’s loss of faith whether it is from false prophets, the homeless, the impact of war or the loss of a close friend. The song paints such a graphic picture that you can’t help but be touched by it in some way. And depends on your mood when you listen, it could even bring a tear to your eyes.
The song opens with only a sad piano playing and then Bret comes in brings the sadness to another level. The song picks up tempo and adds the power to the ballad. It is one of Poison’s greatest performances and showed they were a little more than a Hair Metal Glam band.
Give it a listen and let me know what you think. I think you will like it and hopefully be touched by it in some way. Thanks and have a great Sunday!
“Something To Believe In”
He tells me to believe in Jesus
And steals the money from my hands
Some say he was a good man
But Lord I think he sinned, yeah
Twenty-two years of mental tears
Cries a suicidal Vietnam vet
Who fought a losing war on a foreign shore
To find his country didn’t want him back
Their bullets took his best friend in Saigon
Our lawyers took his wife and kids, no regrets
In a time I don’t remember, in a war he can’t forget
He cried “Forgive me for what I’ve done there
Cause I never meant the things I did”
[Chorus:]
And give me something to believe in if there’s a Lord above
And give me something to believe in Oh, Lord arise
My best friend died a lonely man
In some Palm Springs hotel room
I got the call last Christmas Eve
And they told me the news
I tried all night not to break down and cry
As the tears rolled down my face
I felt so cold and empty
Like a lost soul out of place
And the mirror mirror on the wall sees my smile it fades again
[Chorus]
Sometimes I wish to God I didn’t know now
The things I didn’t know then road you gotta take me home
I drive by the homeless sleeping on a cold dark street
Like bodies in an open grave
Underneath the broken old neon sign
That used to read JESUS SAVES
A mile away live the rich folks
And I see how they’re living it up
While the poor they eat from hand to mouth
The rich is drinking from a golden cup
And it just makes me wonder why so many lose, so few win
[Chorus]
You take the high road and I’ll take the low road
Sometimes I wish to God I didn’t know now
The things I didn’t know then
And give me something to believe in
2 Loud 2 Old Music 
So many hair metal bands followed Bon Jovi’s ‘Going Blues for credibility’ tactic around this time. Glam had started to look silly and ‘bringing it on home’ made sense when you think they all grew up listening to Zep and Bad Co anyway.
I considered Flesh And Blood Poison’s high water mark. Mostly because of this song. It’s really powerful stuff. This, the second Cinderella album (and even more the third one) and bands like The Scream really saved Glam from an untimely end with a more credible side to the girls and Harley’s of Motley Crue.
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Well said MR Deaf!
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Flesh & Blood is my favorite then Native Tongue. These were two of their most mature sounding albums and were starting to take the band in a different direction and then Nirvana killed them all.
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It was a massacre. I remember some hair metal bands trying to Grunge Up their sounds. It was a bloodbath
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Yes, it wasn’t pretty.
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For Posion this is a good track. Lyrically it took em out of their safe zone which I applaud.
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It was probably the first serious song they had done. It was a nice change.
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Truthfully I don’t know if Poison have ever tugged as hard on the heartstrings, as they do with Something to Believe In. It was a tear jerker from day one. A classic song. No exaggeration, just pure magic.
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You may find this video interesting as a music lover….. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oVME_l4IwII
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I remember the first time I heard this one. It was so heartfelt. I believed in the words Brett was singing. It made me emotional because I actually could feel Brett’s pain.
The other thing for me was Desert Storm was ramping up at the time and being of fighting age it was scary. Who knew if idiot politicians would conscript us off to war. I remember sitting at the kitchen table discussing with my mom how there was a chance my brother and I might be forced to go to war. I will never forget how scared she looked. I promised her I would quit my job and go off to college just in case and it all worked out. Either way I got an education.
The feeling about the suicidal vet coming home to a country that didn’t want him hit just as hard as the Kiko death.
Also being Catholic and having a cousin that was groped by a priest when he did alter service made the first scene hit home as well.
Suicide. War. Neglect from your own country. People of authority taking advantage of impressionable youth.
Poison went from a party band to a band with a serious message in one
song.
Really great post. It brought back memories and a few tears.
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Thanks Bop for sharing! I am glad the song brought back memories and sorry for any tears. I remember watching the video and seeing Bret react to those pictures on the screen and wondered if it was genuine and it turned out it was.
I also remember Desert Storm and those thoughts of going to war. I was in college at the time and we had many discussions about it and if we would have to go. It was a little scary.
I am also Catholic (or was), but thankfully I didn’t have to experience any of what your cousin went through. That is horrible. I still feel they don’t fully address that issue which is one of the many reasons I am no longer Catholic.
Thanks again and have a great day!
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I knew some soldiers/navy men over the years that came home alcoholics. Closed in. They drank and did drugs to numb the awful things they saw.
Still in 2018, governments do not do enough for those that fight for freedom.
When they come home, they are forgotten.
l am still Catholic but not practicing. My cousin’s case was not near as bad as others. Priest grabbed his butt I think, but he was a teen and big enough to say stop. Others were not so lucky.
One of many reasons I never go to church anymore.
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As a 19 year old USAF TACP stationed in FRG we got the call in November of 90 landed in Saudi Arabia 23 December 1990 massed at the border of Iraq , for 30 days we watched & listened to the constant bombing from our planes .. 23 february 1991 my world changed ….100 hours of continuous combat … The adrenaline is what I still chase today …
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One of their very best, for sure.
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Now here’s a song I haven’t heard in ages and ages yet as soon as I heard the title it all appeared in my head instantly. Yeah I played this tape a time or two, back in the day.
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I think we all did!
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